Sweater



Dec. 20, 1949 w. KATZ 2,492,097

SWEATER Filed June 10, 1947 INVENTOR. Wzllzam .lfazy A TTORNE'YS Patented Dec. 20, 1949 SWEATER William Katz, New York, N. Y., assignor to Olympic Knitwear, Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application June 10, 1947, Serial No. 753,711

3 Claims.

As conducive to a clear understanding of the invention, it is noted that knit sweaters, especially those worn by girls and women, are of two general types, the loose fitting boxie or loppy Joe type for schoolwear, campWear and sportwear, and the form-fitting or torso type for less casual wear.

It is among the objects of the present invention to provide a sweater which serves a dual purpose by being instantly convertible from loose fit to form fit wear and conversely, by the wearer while the garment is on the body, all by a simple manipulation, without the assistance of others and without resort to any implements.

, Another object is to provide a garment of the above type, the cost of manufacture of which is but little in excess of that of an ordinary unconvertible garment of either type and the appearance of which in wear gives no indication of its convertible character.

According to the invention the garment is provided with manipulable means completely concealed from the exterior of the garment, but readily accessible, by which the sweater may be transversely gathered or puckered at regions symmetrical with respect to the longitudinal midsection thereof, preferably in the region of the waistline, to convert the loose fitting or boxie into a form fitting or torso type of sweater or conversely. The manipulable means preferably comprises associated draw string tapes anchored at their outer portions to the garment, the garment aflording retention means for the tapes, desirably a sheath structure, from the midportion of which the free ends of the associated tape ends hang, so that upon tying them together at the inside of the sweater the desired gathering or puckering for form fitting effect will be attained.

In the accompanying drawings in which are shown one or more various possible embodiments of the several features of the invention,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the sweater in its loose-fitting mode of wear,

Fig.2 is a view. similar to Fig. 1, showing the same garment in its form-fitting mode of Wear,

Fig. 3 is a view in transverse cross section taken along line 3-3 of Fig. 2, i

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary side view of the inside of the garment at the midsection of the rear panel, and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of an alternative embodiment.

Referring now to the drawings, the sweater in its general structure may be of the loose-fitting or boxie type, comprising as it does a generally rectangular front panel II] and an identical generally rectangular rear panel I I, said panels being desirably joined at their lateral edges by longitudinal seams l2 leaving arm-holes about which are stitched at [3' the sleeves l3. The panels are also connected at their upper portions along lines of stitching I4 to the neck band i5. The garment is illustratively shown as having patch pockets I 6 and having aband or hem I! at its lower edge. The garment as thus far described is quite conventional and by reason of its unmodified rectangular panels 10, ll fits as intended, quite loosely about the body for sportswear, as shown in Fig. 1,

Referring now to Figs. 3 and 4, the rear panel of the garment is provided, desirably above the level of the pockets i6 and near its waist portion, with a transversely extending strip or ribbon l8, desirably blind stitched at its longitudinal edges as at l9 to the knit fabric, and forming therewith a sheath for accommodating the draw strings 20, 2|, which may be of conventional non-elastic tape. Desirably the outer ends of the tape are securely stitched or anchored at [2 to the junction portion at the lateral edges of the panels and the free or adjoining ends 20', 2|, of the tapes hang downward from the midsection of the sheath from between blind stitches l9 at that region, as best shown in Fig. 4.

The garment worn as shown in Fig. 1 has the appearance of an ordinary loose-fitting or boxie type sweater without any suggestion of its convertible character. To convert the sweater to the form-fitting or torso type, the wearer simply reaches back and ties the two hanging tapes 20', 2! together in a bow B, as best shown in Fig. 3. The tension applied to the draw string tape ends in such tying operation causes the rear panel H and the strip or ribbon I8 to become neatly gathered or puckered symmetrically of the longitudinal midsection of the garment, as best shown in Figs. 2 and 3 to a degree of tautness readily determined by the wearer. The garment in that setting has the appearance of a form-fitting or torso-type sweater especially made as such, without any suggestion of its. convertible character. Neither the tapes 20,. nor the sheath l8 would be exposed to view from the exterior, either in the loose-fitting mode of wear shown in Fig. 1 or in the form-fitting mode shown in Fig. 2. The wearer can of course in an instant open the bow B made in the form-fitting mode of wear shown 3 in Fig. 2 to convert the garment to the loosefitting or boxie type shown in Fig. 1.

In the embodiment of Fig. 5, the entire sheath is a unitary part of the knit sweater construction, a structure readily produced on conventional knitting machines to provide a narrow tube-knit sheath 25 transversely of the rear panelv I I made up as shown of an inner knit ribbon iii an'd an outer knit ribbon 2T, merging throughout the length thereof at their upper and lower edges into the single-ply knit structure of the upper and lower main structure of the sweater. The draw string or tape 2!) and 2P is similar to that in Figs. 3 and 4 and extends through'the tube-knit sheath or passageway, between ribbons 26 and 21, and is anchored at its outer ends near the joined lateral edges of the garment panels in'the same manner as in Figs. 1 to 3. The free ends of the tapes extend outward from between the meshes of the sheath 25 as shown at 28, near the midsection of the rear panel. The tapes may be tied to form how 13' in the same manner as in the other embodiment for the torso effect and untied for the loose or boxie effect. In each case the tape'is concealed in wear, but the tube-knit portion' 25 appears as part of the design of the sweater'and may of course if desired extend along the front panel as well as along the rear panel.

The conventional sweater body structure, as shown in Fig. 1 and above described, could of course be fashioned from a unitary peripherally continuous or seamless knit tube which would present a front and a rear panel when laid flat, and the term panel as used in' the claims is intended to include such structure.

Obviously the invention is applicable to a coat type sweater as well as to the pull-over type of construction shown. While preferably applied to a. box type sweater, itcould manifestly also be applied to a torso-type sweater to permit of variation or adjustment in the degree of form-fit thereof.

While'the specific constructions shown are in general preferred, it will beunderstood that'the drawstring tapes could be retained in place along the garment by a series of uniformly spaced straps straddling the width of thetape and between which th'e length of the draw string would.

be exposed to view at the inside of the garment.

While the point of anchorage of the ends of the draw strings is preferably at the lateral edges of the panels-as shown, theyv could extend therebeyond and be anchored at the front panel or said pointsof anchorage might be closer together between. the lateralv edges of the rear panel.

B will also be understood that the draw strings could be arranged in two sets laterally of the garment'to cause the puckering or gathering at the hips rather than at the back, or they could be arranged both at the hips and the back.

As many changes coul'd'be made in the "above construction and many apparently widely'diiferent embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from-the scope of the claims, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in 'the accom panying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desireto secure by Letters Pat ent of the United States is:

1. A knit sweater extending below the waist of the wearer comprising a front panel of generally rectangular form, a rear panel of generally rectangular form, means laterally connecting said panels, said sweater being of the loose-fitting type, a draw string confining strip extending transversely of the rear panel across the entire width thereof at the waist-portion of said sweater, and having an opening near the midsection thereof, a pair of draw string tapes confined between said rear panel and the strip and anchored at the outermost ends thereof at the junction of said front and rear panels, the free ends of said tapes depending in exposed relation from said opening near the midsection of the strip, said strip and tapes being concealed under the rear panel when the loose-fitting sweater is worn as such, whereby upon tying the tapes, the rear panel will be caused togather with the strip to convert the garment into a form-fitting sweater.

2. A knit sweater of the loose-fitting type extending below the waist of the wearer, said sweater incorporating in the knit structure thereof a narrow tube-knit sheath section extending transversely thereof symmetrically with respect to the longitudinal midsection of the garment and-positioned at the waist portion thereof,-draw string tape elements each anchored at the outer end thereof to the garment and extending within the corresponding tube-knit sheath, and the free ad jacent ends of the associated tapes'protruding from near the midsection of the corresponding tube-knit length and hanging from the inside of the sweater, whereby upon tying the associated ends, the garment is converted into a form-fitting sweater.

3. A knit sweater of the loose-fitting type, extending below the waist of the wearer, compris ing a generally rectangular front panel, a generally rectangular rear panel, said panels beln-g connected at the lateral edges thereof ,said sweater incorporating in the knit structure thereof "a narrow tube-knit sheath section extending transversely thereof symmetrically with respect tothe longitudinal midsection of the garment and- 0: sitioned at the waist portion thereof, draw string tape elements each' anchored atthe "outer end thereof to'th-e garment at the junctions "of the front and rear panels, and extendingwithin the corresponding tube-knit sheath, and thefree ad'- jacent ends of the associated tapes'pro'truding from near the midsection of the tube knit length and hanging from the inside of the sweater;

whereby upon tying the associated ends, thegan mentis converted into a form-fitting-swea'ter.

'WILLI'AM KATZ.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record inthe file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Martin Aug. :29, 1-1939 

